Netanyahu 'fully supports' Trump's withdrawal from Iran deal

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his strong support for US President Donald Trump's "bold" decision Tuesday to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, which the Israeli leader has repeatedly criticised.

"Israel fully supports President Trump's bold decision today to reject the disastrous nuclear deal with the terrorist regime in Tehran," Netanyahu said in a televised address, referring to the multinational accord with his country's main enemy.

Netanyahu said leaving the current deal in place was "a recipe for disaster, a disaster for our region, a disaster for the peace of the world".

"This is why Israel thinks that President Trump did an historic move."

Netanyahu on April 30 unveiled tens of thousands of intelligence documents in another televised address that he said showed Iran's secret nuclear weapons ambitions.

Proponents of the nuclear deal argued the trove of documents Israel obtained from Tehran shed little new light on Iran's nuclear programme and, in fact, made the case for why the accord is important.

Netanyahu argues the documents show the deal was built on a lie -- Iran denied having pursued nuclear weapons -- and demonstrate that Tehran has a secret atomic weapons programme ready to activate at any time.

Trump and his Middle East allies, particularly Israel, argue the agreement was too weak and needs to be replaced with a more permanent arrangement, supplemented by controls on Iran's missile programme.

They also say the lifting of sanctions against Iran under the deal has increased its ability to finance proxy militants and other forms of aggression.